United States presidential election, 2020
| next_election = United States presidential election, 2024 | next_year = 2024 | votes_for_election= All 538 electoral votes of the Electoral College | needed_votes = 270 electoral votes needed to win | turnout = 56.3% | image1 = | nominee1 = Cory Booker | party1 = Democratic Party (United States) | home_state1 = New Jersey | running_mate1 = Sherrod Brown | electoral_vote1 = 353 | states_carried1 = 27 + DC + NE-02 | popular_vote1 = 67,679,202 | percentage1 = 51.1% | image2 = | nominee2 = Donald Trump | party2 = Republican Party (United States) | home_state2 = New York | running_mate2 = Mike Pence | electoral_vote2 = 185 | states_carried2 = 23 | popular_vote2 = 41,455,167 | percentage2 = 31.3% | image3 = | nominee3 = Ben Sasse | party3 = Republican Party (United States) | home_state3 = Nebraska | running_mate3 = Jeff Flake | popular_vote3 = 22,780,475 | percentage3 = 17.2% | map_image = | map_size = 270px | map_caption = Presidential election results map | title = President | before_election = Donald Trump | before_party = Republican Party (United States) | after_election = Cory Booker | after_party = Democratic Party (United States) | electoral_vote3 = 0|states_carried3 = 0}} The United States presidential election of 2020 was the 59th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The contest was between incumbent Republican President Donald J. Trump and his Democratic opponent, Senator Cory Booker, as well as Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who ran as an independent. During this time, Little Cold War tension between the United States and Russia was at a high level, as was fear of Russian manipulation of information in the US, epitomized by the evidence of collusion in the Trump campaign in 2016. Foreign policy was a main issue in the race for the Republican nomination. The extent of corruption in the federal government became a major issue as well. Trump had alienated much of his conservative base by failing to restore manufacturing jobs and higher standards of living. With an economy in recession at home marked by low wages and a widening wealth gap, Booker, echoing Ronald Reagan's question to the nation of, "Are you better off?" won by a healthy margin. Trump, after defeating Ben Sasse and John Kasich for the Republican nomination, attacked Booker as a dangerous left-wing radical. For his part, Booker pledged to uplift the pessimistic mood of the nation, and won a decisive victory. As well, the Democrats won back control of the Senate, having already retaken the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterms. Sasse's campaign took 17.2% of the vote, finishing second in Nebraska, Indiana, and Iowa. This was noted for being the highest vote share of a third-party candidate since 1992, though he did not obtain any electoral votes. Background Trump entered office with his transition fumbling and the White House unable to perform basic functions of the executive branch, all while being plagued by investigations into his activities, resignations of upper level members of the administration, and judicial reversals of executive action. Trump was consistently criticized for various actions immediately after taking office, such as travel bans on Muslim and Mexican travelers to the United States and contacts between the Trump campaign and its surrogates during the campaign. Despite a rocky start Trump saw some early successes with cabinet appointments, most notably the lauded appointments of General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, calming some concerns regarding Trump's ability to be commander-in-chief. However, Trump came under scrutiny with other appointments, such as that of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. As well, Trump's response to more aggressive Russian activities abroad, and public disagreements with various intelligence agencies rapidly undid the President's progress on the home-front. Several Republicans in the House and Senate, long silent on Trump's qualifications as Commander-in-Chief, finally began questioning the President, especially after it was revealed that several members of his campaign, such as National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, had contact with the Russians during the 2016 election. This, along with the firing of FBI director James Comey and the revelation that Trump had requested he stop investigating Flynn led to the opposition to include prominent Republicans such as Lindsay Graham and John McCain. Trump had limited success in foreign policy, entering office with ISIS on the defensive in light of the Battle of Mosul. He would increase the number of troops in the region and increase airstrikes on Islamic targets. Within several months, Mosul fell to Iraqi forces, while the Islamic State's capital of al Raqqa would fall to US-backed forces. However, by 2018, the remnants of ISIS that had gone to ground after al Raqqa fell had begun a persistent campaign of terror over not just Iraq and Syria, but had spread south into Saudi Arabia and Jordan, further destabilizing the region. As well, Trump would fail to develop constructive ties with Russia, especially after (grudgingly) signing new sanctions on them, as well as Iran and North Korea, that were almost unanimously passed in Congress. In addition to the war against ISIS, the United States found itself in a new crisis with North Korea, after that nation resumed nuclear testing over the Sea of Japan. Trump began to strengthen the US alliance with South Korea and Japan, and increased pressure on China and Russia to take a harder stance towards the North. Eventually, the US, with consent from South Korea, launched a limited air strike against North Korean air defenses and launch sites, at least temporarily disabling their nuclear capabilities. This initially gave him a substantial increase in popularity, bringing his average approval rating to the early to mid-40s. A massive anti-nuclear protest movement, the likes of which had not been seen since the 1970s, began to grip the American Left, and would continue to do so for the next several years. Domestically, Trump's policies faced continuous opposition by Democrats, which was not helped by the internal division of the Republican Party. Chuck Schumer proved to be a far more competent leader than Harry Reid, and established an effective "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine with progressive leader Bernie Sanders. Trump was gradually forced to walk back from his more radical proposals, and relied on Congressional leaders to handle the details of legislation. However, the leadership of both chambers seldom agreed, and public opposition to Trump and the GOP's landmark domestic legislative agenda, such as the repealing of the Affordable Care Act, resulted in the House and Senate passing two bills that could not be passed ultimately, leading to a bipartisan effort to improve the current law. Trump's popularity reached an all time low by the 2018 midterm elections, and Democrats managed to take back the House and gain a one-seat majority in the Senate. Trump took unilateral action to establish what was effectively a Muslim ban and ramp up deportations via executive order; however it came under extensive criticism, and the ACLU and other organizations were quick to bring the ban to court. Despite this both actions were popular among many conservatives. By 2018, images of terrified Mexican and Muslim immigrants (many of them English speakers) being pulled from their homes caused Trump's deportation effort to rapidly lose popular support. The administration also continued to fail to carry out the construction of Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico. To top it all off, the US economy went into Recession in the second half of 2019, with unemployment rising to 7.5%. Trump attempted to blame the recession on immigration and the burden of refugees, and ordered an immediate close and deportation of all refugees seeking asylum. While Trump's most die hard supporters loved the idea, after a year it was seen as doing little to alleviate the crisis. The Recession ended in late 2019 and the economy began to improve, but quality of life remained virtually unchanged for many Americans, and Trump's supporters began abandoning him. Nominations Democratic Party Nomination By 2020, the Democrats felt that their best chance to defeat Trump was to nominate a popular, unifying figure for their presidential candidate. They had key advantages, among those being that the Republican Party was internally divided and unpopular due to Trump's actions as president and the Recession. Key candidates included Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley, and Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. Booker's candidacy was strengthened by an early declaration of support by former President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden (who had downplayed speculation of his own Presidential run), who's popularity had steadily grown after leaving the White House. The Democrats, thus, threw their weight behind Booker. In order to ensure the Democrats took the Rust Belt, Booker chose Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown as his running mate. 'Democratic' Withdrawn candidates * Seth Moulton, US House Representative from 6th district of Massachusetts * John Delaney, US House Representative from 6th district of Maryland * Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts * Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator from New York * John Hickenlooper, Governor from Colorado * Kamala Harris, Senator from California * Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii * Richard Ojeda, State Senator from West Virginia * Julian Castro, former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development * Elizabeth Warren, US Senator from Massachusetts * Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington File:Kirsten_Gillibrand,_official_portrait.jpg| }} File:John_Hickenlooper.jpg| }} File:Kamala_Harris_official_photo.jpg| }} File:Tulsi_Gabbard,_official_portrait.jpg| }} Republican Party Nomination The three major Republican candidates in early 2019 were incumbent President Donald Trump, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and former Governor John Kasich of Ohio. Trump and Kasich faced off in 34 primaries. This was the most tumultuous primary race that an elected incumbent president had encountered since President Carter, during the 1980 Presidential Election. During the summer of 2020, there was a short-lived "Draft Mattis" movement; Secretary of Defense James Mattis was seen as a favorable alternative to a deadlocked convention. One poll showed that Mattis would be a more popular alternative to Trump than Sasse or Kasich, implying that the attraction was not so much to Kasich as to the fact that he was not Trump. Mattis was polling even with Booker at the time, while Trump was seven points behind. Although the underground "Draft Mattis" campaign failed, it became a political legend. A schism had formed within the Republican Party leading to Trump's opponents in the Republican Party to nominate Ben Sasse as an alternative Republican candidate. Candidates *Donald John Trump, 45th President of the United States from New York *Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator from Nebraska *John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio File:Donald_Trump.jpg| Donald John Trump of New York File:BenSasse.jpg|Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska The Election By November, the outcome of the election was all but decided. By the end of the primaries, Trump's approval rating was at its lowest. Booker enjoyed tremendous support from minorities, especially Hispanics. Women were not that far behind, although a fair number supported Trump. As in the last election, the base of Trump's supporters were working class non-educated white men. Even their turnout, however, was less than before as many working class voters felt betrayed by Trump. This was due to the fact that Trump had not only failed to help alleviate their quality of life after the recession, but also keep that same promise which he made four years prior. As well, around this time many Millennials began entering the work force in large numbers, taking their traditionally Liberal beliefs with them and making their voices heard. The election of 2020 would saw a slight uptick in voter turnout from progressives who came out to support Booker balanced out by a decline in turnout among Trump's base. A schism had formed within the Republican Party, leading to Trump's opponents in the party to nominate Ben Sasse as an alternative Republican candidate. This split among the Republican voter base caused Booker to ultimately win with a fairly strong margin, making Trump the first incumbent President to lose a bid for reelection since George H.W. Bush in 1992. The Democrats were also able to increase their majorities in both chambers of Congress, and also gained control of the majority of state legislatures and/or governorships. Post-election events After CNN called the election, President Trump broke yet another Presidential convention and immediately challenged the results over twitter and via the podium, claiming widespread voter fraud. The Trump campaign demanded recounts in Florida, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The case was thrown out by the DC Circuit on November 13th. Despite widespread opposition and calls from Congressional leaders in his own party to accept the results of the election, President Trump continued to hold rallies calling for a recount and accusing both parties of either fraud or complacency. In one case, the President suggested that his supporters should, "Let those electors know who really won the election!" leading to protests in front of the electoral college. On January 1st, President Trump took to twitter demanding his supporters protest the Congress before they certify the results of the election, leading to violence in the streets of DC as Trump supporters clashed with police and counter protesters. He continued to claim up until January 3rd when the House officially confirmed the election of Cory Booker, that he was the legitimate President, making him a pariah in the eyes of many Americans. No longer in any position to challenge the results and facing scandals on all sides, Trump finally conceded in a hastily written farewell address and returned to New York in disgrace. The Republican Party would never be able to recover from the damage of Trump's presidency. They would continue to play a part in American political life for the next few years, but would never again be a viable force, finally disbanding after the election of Dylan J. Price in 2028. Their only consolation was that the Democrats would suffer the same fate, with Booker being the last Democratic president. Category:United States Presidential Elections